Saw something good at the range today

[Thumbcocker]

Mrs. Thumbcocker and I were getting stir crazy with all the rain and clouds lately so we headed to the range. When we arrived we saw a father and son with what was obviously a Christmas Mossberg 20 gage shotgun. The father explained haw to check the chamber for rounds and gave a nice safety talk in a calm voice. The boy then got to send a round down range.


The kid was about 11 or 12 and red headed. He looked at me and grinned and said "Christmas present" I told him I had wondered if Santa had brought the gun. Dad piped in and said "Santa is a pretty smart guy" and both him and the boy grinned. Turns out Dad is a LEO and air force veteran. He was a small arms instructor when he was in. We had a nice talk and I offered to let the boy shoot a .32 magnum revolver. He declined but did take me up on dry firing it. Dad accepted a cylinder full of boolit loads and did pretty well.

Not an earth shaking event but I was glad I got to see it and contribute a little.

[Sweetpea]

Sounds like a good time.

Glad to hear from you, merry Christmas to you and the Mrs.

[nagantguy]

These kind of stories I love to hear! Almost all I know and pass on to whom ever will learn I can say my father taught me, sad more people can't say that. Good to.see a boy learning to shoot from.dad, good on you to offer to help an let him shoot another type of arm! Me and my best pal went out rabbit hunting started on a piece of state land when we were leaving two young men pulled up with a nice looking begale, when they walked up to us they both opened the actions on their weapons and single shot 20 and a 10-22 asked us how we did, said yes and no sir to questions we asked them. They then claimed they had the best rabbit dog in the state, asked us if wed like to hunt with them. We had just kicked the place fairly well and didn't see a thing, I said sure anyhow they set that dog lose and I'll be danged if it didn't case rabbits right buy us, 3 that we got and some more that didn't play buy the rules and hold still so we could blast em! It was great. The boys were brothers 17 and 19, asked them where they learned to train a dog like that and they both said "from dad"

[dtknowles]

Anybody wonder how come kids who grow up without a dad are so ef up.

Tim

[country gent]

Hunt with your kids and you wont be hunting for them. Im looking forward to the next step and teaching the grandsons when they are old enough.

[Bad Water Bill]

Did dad reload for the new gun?

[2thepoint]

It's really all about passing down the knowledge and experience the next generation to keep this wonderful pastime going...glad you saw a father & son sharing some quality time together. It's nice to see with all this nonsense going on in the world.

[FISH4BUGS]

It is REALLY fun to let someone run a magazine through the gun on full auto. They have what we call the "full auto grin" for a while afterwards.
I am happy to let someone shoot any of my machine guns as long as they supply the ammo and it is factory ammo. If I blow one up (again) I want to to be my fault, not someone else's reloads.
It is really fun to have someone ask questions, be clearly interested in the guns, and then they get to shoot it. Hopefully I make another convert to the world of full auto shooting.
Oddly enough, the gun that gets the most interest is the Serbu Super Shorty in 20 ga. Basically it is a 3 shot (2+1) Mossberg 500 pump with a 6" barrel and pistol grip. Great fun to shoot.
http://serbu.com/supershorty.html

[btroj]

My kid is older than that but I plan to take her out to send some lead downrange today.

[bensonwe]

Went to the range today with my grandson. He received a .22 long rifle for Christmas from his mother and wanted in the worst way to shoot it. I had no problem with that. So, last night he started talking about .22 and the kicks they have. I reassured him that most .22 have little kick. I then asked if he wanted to shot my .22 hornet. He without hesitation said yes. Then I asked if he wanted to shot the .222 Remington? He was a bit hesitant but said he would try. So at the range he shot the whole box of .22 LRS. Then the box of hornets. (I had loaded them soft). Then the .222. You should have seen the smile on my 12 year old grandsons face. Makes me so proud of him.

[RobS]

I have a time or two seen the father/son or grandfather/grandson at the range. It's always cool seeing the young ones learning safety and then the grin of both sides as the primer is set and the gun smoke clears. This past November was great as my son went out with both his grandfather and me to do some shooting. He learned how to shoot a 22 revolver and a 45 Colt lever action this time around........and also plinked around with a Ruger 204 as well.

[btroj]

Sort of sad but most of the "teaching" we see these days is bubba teaching his bubbette. It usually involves lots of comments about how much something recoils, usually a 380 or a 9mm. We even saw one guy who kept his hand on bubbette's back as if to keep her from being shoved backward from the massive 9mm recoil.

Then there was the couple who brought a young, like 2 to 3, kid with them. Nothing like being 30 yard away, with ear plugs in, and hearing the shouting. The kid wasn't happy and wanted to cry. Mom took her to the ports potty, 60 yards away, where we heard the kid being told "If you don't go to the bathroom I'm gonna kick your @@@". Dad was so much better when he repeatedly told the child how she was a "pain in the @@@". Parenting at its finest. My wife and I just shook our heads.

It is so refreshing and nice to hear a story of a parent who gets it right.

[TXGunNut]

I enjoy well-behaved kids anywhere but it's mandatory at a range. I've often caught a youngster staring at my BP guns and always offer to let them give it a try, some even take me up on it. Sometimes Dad will even give it a try. I learned safe gun handling at Boy Scout camp, reflecting back on my dad's gun handling skills that was probably a good thing.

[Freightman]

Grown Grand daughter called and ask if I can take her and some collage friends to the range, Yes i said but your dad has to go help me as we have to go over the safety rules. She said great as the friends are not familiar with guns but she is, glad she isn't afraid to talk about it. She can shoot a 1911 better than I can :bigsmyl2:

[gew98]

My son ( 11yr old ) stayed at a friends house a weekend or two ago. And wondered why the kid never came over our place. Turns out the parents are ungodly anti-gun.... very very anti. And this in rural KY. Surprised me so. I tried to have a conversation with the kids dad..one evasive fella not wort pursuing in conversation again. I got a hint of a religious cult flavor .... not my cup of tea !.

[trapper9260]

A navy friend of my when we where room mates back in 79 came over this summer with his 2 nices and nephew sorry for the spelling. Anyways the 2 girls did not ever touch a gun before ,but the boy did of a shot gun but after there where here with my friend all 3 of them know how to shoot the 2 kind of handguns and rifles and semi auto rifle and made sure they did not call it what the media call it and they also shot a shotgun also.They where 18 and the youngest was 12 .the boy and girl where twins. Now my friend said they ask him when is the next time that he will be coming here they want to do more shooting.It is in my back yard I do all my shooting.The kids are brought up in Chicago.They left here not the same .Also learn the right way of the use of guns.It is nice to teach some the right way and all.

[freebullet]

This is a much better thread than the "I hate everyone who talks to me at the range" thread. Thanks for sharing.

[retread]

Love to hear of the father son stories. Reminds me of my Dad teaching me gun safety and shooting. He was tough on gun safety and it really stuck with me. I wish I could say I was as good a shot as he was but that is not the case. When he raised a shotgun or rifle up to shoot something fell down. Really great memories.

[nagantguy]

The greatest reward I've gotten is being a assistant instructor for hunters safety. 20-35 kids, no phones no games and a lot of yes sirs, and they get it! The land nav course is always a hoot! Talk about confidence building!!!! And never seen one single accident with bow air gun .22 shotgun or muzzle loader. The kids have not failed us we failed them, they still want to learn and do right, we need to teach and care! I know those on this board do I mean society at large!!!! Keep the youngster stories coming, all they need is love guidance and a firm hand; a positive role model don't hurt either.

[Bored1]

Love hearing about kids positive experiences at the range!!!! Take mine as often as I can. My daughter's favorite lately has been my AR and the steel gong. She likes the sound it makes. Funny thing that I didn't tell her is, the gong is my favorite to shoot at too, can't beat the sounds! TING TING TING.

[FISH4BUGS]

Went to the range yesterday to test my 223 reloads. (It is always a good idea to test the first 20 or so before you load thousands - don't ask me how I know!)
I took the Colt 6330 SBR and the the scoped clone AR15 with a 20" bull barrel and Harris bipod. The guy in the lane next to me was very interested in both guns. I got to explain how the ATFE SBR laws affected us (he didn't know it was legal to own short barrel rifles), and he really looked over the Nikon 223 1x4 scope. He decided to buy a scope for his AR.
Those are always nice experiences.
The bad experiences with the gangsta wannabe wahoos and their 380 magnums firing as fast as they can pull the trigger spoil it for all of us.